Franco Morbidelli is theoretically one of the rare pilots who should be calm about their future in a general situation which makes that of his colleagues precarious. In fact, he is with Pecco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez, Brad Binder, and since this Thursday Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales, whose leases with their employer are fixed until 2024, one of those who can weather the storm of the current transfer market without getting wet. The Italian-Brazilian can thus see until 2023 before worrying. And yet, on the eve of his Italian Grand Prix, the Yamaha official is as if possessed by a deep anxiety...
It seems that, in this season more than in others, you have to keep a low profile in the paddock and seize the opportunity with an excellent record to ensure your continued existence. Even with a contract in hand, there is a sense of doubt and that is what a Franco Morbidelli who approaches his meeting with Mugello with his audience. Already, he regrets not having the legitimacy of the results in the face of Yamaha who does not need to show him the performance of his neighbor in the box fabio quartararo to make him understand that there is a problem… “ My fundamental problem is not with the bike itself, it's me who can't find the right feeling with it » he admits in all honesty. « After my knee healed at the beginning of the year, I expected better results, but this is not the case ", he declared in an interview with motogp.com.
Franco Morbidelli: “ Fabio Quartararo took a path that was really useful to him, and I wasn't on that path«
The VR46 Academy pilot is not looking for excuses, neither physical nor technical: “ I do not have no need to share my information with Fabio if he found a way to get the most out of the package. I don't want to give feedback that isn't clear, which is more linked to not finding the right feeling with the bike.. Fabio took a path that was really useful to him, and I wasn't on that path. It's no longer worth sharing my information if he found a better way to exploit this package ».
The objective of Franco Morbidelli is to regain this level of competitiveness which characterized it in 2020, to be able to exploit the strengths of the Yamaha M1 as fabio quartararo achieves this perfectly. For the 2020 world vice-champion, it is a complicated situation from which he will have to get out as quickly as possible, his future with the Japanese manufacturer being, to hear him, also at stake. This is not a pleasant situation for me and my team. I seem calm and relaxed but inside me there are strong emotions, sensations that invade me and I'm not relaxed about the future ". And although its continuity at Yamaha is signed until the end of 2023, he believes that “ everyone should be afraid of their future, because it is not certain ».
And he ends: “ a podium is always good, a victory even more so, and that's what I really need right now ". The pressure seems to be on Franco Morbidelli. All that would be missing is the test of Toprak Razgatlioglu in June, in Aragon, on the M1, turns out to be positive…
